The present invention relates generally to roll grinders used for milling steel rolls.
A typical roll grinder is a specialized type of machine tool similar to a large lathe that normally includes a front bed assembly which holds and turns a workpiece (roll) and a back bed assembly which contains a powered grinding wheel under CNC computer control.
During the grinding process, a roll is loaded into the roll supports on the front bed via a crane or similar means. A roll drive and tailstock are engaged after which the roll drive begins to rotate the workpiece for grinding. The grinding wheel engages the workpiece for grinding via movement along transverse and infeed axes and proceeds to grind the roll body in a series of back and forth cutting passes. With each pass, the grinding wheel is kept engaged to the roll, following a complex mathematical profile generated by the servo infeed axes of the grinding wheel assembly controlled by the computer.
This grinding process continues for several minutes to several hours depending upon the application and type of roll profile desired. A typical steel mill work roll takes approximately 30 minutes to complete. After the machine completes the grinding process, the grinding wheel retracts from the workpiece and parks while an operator unloads the finished roll and loads a new roll to be ground into the machine. Once the unload/load operation is complete, the grinding process begins again.
The present invention is directed to increasing productivity and decreasing the cycle time associated with roll grinding.